10 things we learned from MLS gameweek 20 of the 2016 season

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 20 of the 2016 MLS season. 1. Seattle Hits Rock Bottom It might go down as the week that brought the curtain down on the Seattle Sounders’ remarkable first MLS era. On Wednesday night, the Sounders were 2-1 up in Carson against the LA Galaxy with a spot in the US Open Cup semifinals on the line, only to concede three times in the final fifteen minutes and lose 4-2. Compared to their display on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, though, the US Open Cup exit was seven kinds of glorious.

The post 10 things we learned from MLS gameweek 20 of the 2016 season appeared first on World Soccer Talk.

Here are the ten things we learned from Week 20 of the 2016 MLS season.

1. Seattle Hits Rock Bottom

It might go down as the week that brought the curtain down on the Seattle Sounders’ remarkable first MLS era.

On Wednesday night, the Sounders were 2-1 up in Carson against the LA Galaxy with a spot in the US Open Cup semifinals on the line, only to concede three times in the final fifteen minutes and lose 4-2.

Compared to their display on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, though, the US Open Cup exit was seven kinds of glorious. The Sounders would lose to 3-0 to Sporting, registering just a single shot in a performance that was, even accounting for the considerable heat, breathtakingly listless.

Seattle now sits ten points below the red line in the Western Conference, twenty-one points behind league-leading FC Dallas, and just one point out of last place. They lead the league in losses.

It’s been a staggering fall from grace. Barring a miracle, Seattle will miss the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The club is, more immediately, in an untenable position. Outside of a few stalwarts and Jordan Morris, the Sounders have played fairly gutlessly this year.

A loss no worse than the one Seattle sulked to on Sunday got Adrian Heath fired in Orlando, and it’s doomed countless coaches over the years. With the Galaxy coming to CenturyLink Field next weekend, change is in the offing.

2. Should Schmid Go?

Sigi Schmid’s future is the talk of the league this week, but the question of whether he should be sacked is a complicated one.

Schmid was dealt an extremely difficult hand this year. The sale of Obafemi Martins just before the start of the season was devastating, but the Sounders were in trouble from the moment they added Andreas Ivanschitz and Nelson Valdez last summer.

Those moves, along with the re-signing of Eric Friberg and the signing of Roman Torres, hamstrung Seattle cap-wise in the offseason. If Schmid is fired, there’s little reason why Garth Lagerway shouldn’t go too. This Sounders side, aging and full of holes, was never likely to threaten the best teams in MLS this year.

It’s worth noting that Schmid has huge support from other MLS coaches, with long-time adversaries Bruce Arena and Peter Vermes rushing to his defense in recent weeks.

That being said, the Sounders look like a team that has given up – and that’s not exactly a new phenomenon. Seattle also imploded in 2013, and it couldn’t be much clearer that Schmid doesn’t have any answers.

Change for change’s sake has never been Seattle or MLS’ modus operandi, but someone has to pay for the Sounders’ 2016. If it’s Schmid, whose contract runs out at the end of the year anyway, he can’t have any complaints.

Those who are saying Sounders fans should forgive one bad season out of the club’s first eight are missing the point. Seattle, as Brad Evans implored recently, doesn’t have down years. This is a big club – and even if it wasn’t, the performance on Sunday was completely unacceptable.

3. Red Bulls Outclass NYCFC

The rubber-match of this year’s New York Derby series between the Red Bulls and NYCFC wasn’t close. The Red Bulls raced out to a 3-0 first half lead and won 4-1, but this was a rout mentally as much as it was on the scoreboard.

It’s cliché, but the attitudes of the respective coaches to the conditions, which required cooling breaks, told you plenty about which way the game was going on Sunday.

NYCFC’s Patrick Vieira admitted that the heat would be a major factor for his team, while the Red Bulls’ Jesse Marsch announced that he welcomed the heat, had hoped it was going to be hotter, and thought the weather gave his team an advantage.

The Red Bulls came out firing, and, not for the first time this year, NYCFC imploded. Vieira was sent off after just thirty minutes, and missed a show of his circus defending by his team – which eventually resorted to kicking anything that moved.

NYCFC would pick up four yellows and a red card after the 85th minute, with Frank Lampard, frustrated all afternoon, tackling Sacha Kljestan and jawing with half the Red Bulls’ team.

It’s a rivalry all right. These teams genuinely don’t like each other. But it’s a rivalry that that the Red Bulls, two years in, have absolutely dominated. NYCFC’s lone win in the series, last month at Yankee Stadium in the most low-key of the team’s six meetings, seems a distant memory.

The all-time series score now stands at a whopping 18-5. The Red Bulls might trail NYCFC in the standings, but they’re the more bought-in, better-coached, more cohesive unit – and when push comes to shove, they’re almost always money.

4. Is NYCFC For Real?

Vieira, the coolest man in Yankee Stadium the day the Red Bulls beat NYCFC 7-0 earlier this year, suffered from a staggering loss of composure at Red Bull Arena – accusing Marsch post-game of “crying all week” about officiating.

Vieira had something of a point. Mark Geiger was typically card-happy – and his late sending off of Ethan White was ludicrous – but refereeing by no means decided the game.

Instead, as Vieira also noted after the game, NYCFC got absolutely overrun in midfield, where Kljestan had a field day working in the acres of space vacated by Lampard and Andrea Pirlo.

The problems weren’t just tactical. Center backs Jefferson Mena and especially Frederic Brilliant were no match for the clever and dogged work of Bradley Wright-Phillips up top.

NYC has an exceptional front five, but against serious and organized teams – and the Red Bulls’ commitment to and comfort with their identity is unmatched in the league – their defense isn’t going to hold up.

The Red Bulls are still the favorites in the East this year, and their about to get really good at center back again between Aurelien Collin and Damien Perinelle. Vieira has done plenty right this year, but NYCFC, as it’s now set up, can’t make a serious playoff run.

One positive from Sunday: Tommy McNamara is a star. Promisingly, it was one of the first things Vieira noticed when he took over in the winter.

5. Stars Show Up in Canada

Toronto and Montreal both busted out of slumps at home on Saturday, with TFC pasting DC United 4-1 and the Impact laying waste to Philadelphia in a 5-1 massacre.

Both teams were led by their stars. Sebastian Giovinco returned to his barnstorming ways with two sublime free-kick goals, and reminded the rest of North America why he’s the best player in the league.

Toronto, who saw Canadian international Tosaint Ricketts make his debut against DC, could be returning to form just as they welcome the likes of Altidore, Bradley, and Will Johnson back.

It’s been something of a slow season for Didier Drogba so far – especially after the torrid pace he set upon his arrival in MLS last year – but the superstar forward was back at his best on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick against the Union in ruthless fashion.

Philly coach Jim Curtin said after the game that, “We were beat by stars. Drogba and Piatti were unstoppable tonight.” Curtin was right to give Piatti his due. Along with Giovinco and Diego Valeri, Piatti is one of the three best players in the league.

This could be a golden moment for the Impact. The club’s attendance has been superb this season, as has the atmosphere this summer at Stade Saptuo. With the Canadians struggling, and Drogba most likely retiring after the season, the club has a rare opportunity to capture the heart of Montreal.

6. Borchers’ Injury Mars LA’s Win in Portland

When the Portland Timbers’ were on their run playoff last year, the story of a Lynda Rose – a fan dying of cancer whose last wish was to see the Timbers win MLS Cup – caught the attention of Nat Borchers.

Borchers spent time with Rose and her family after Portland beat FC Dallas in the first leg of the Western Conference Final, and he wrote her name in his cleats before MLS Cup.

When she passed away, just ten days after the Timbers won the championship, Borchers spoke eloquently and movingly about how her spirit had touched his life.

All that is just to say this: You could spend a good long while lauding Nat Borchers for just about anything. He’s one of the best people in MLS, not to mention one of its best ever defenders.

This hasn’t been a banner year for Borchers – in no small part due to the fact that he’s played much of it next to Jermaine Taylor – but throughout a season in which the Timbers have been hammered by injuries, Borchers’ durability has been remarkable.

Borchers hadn’t missed a single game of his Timbers career hurt, and had never suffered a major injury in his MLS career – a career that spans more than 350 games, eleven playoff appearances, three MLS Cups, and two championships.

But on Saturday, just before halftime of Portland’s 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy at Providence Park, Borchers crumpled just feet from where Mikael Silvestre’s career ended in 2013.

There still isn’t a diagnosis for the center back, but there’s a good chance that he tore his Achilles tendon. If he’s out for the year, or more, the Timbers’ hopes of repeating as MLS Cup champions are next to zero.

Borchers means that much. To supporters of the team, he means even more. Here’s hoping that this isn’t the end of one of MLS’ greatest careers.

7. Chicago’s Road Drought Continues

A late mistake from Sean Johnson meant that the Chicago Fire lost 1-0 to a surging New England Revolution on Saturday night at Gillete Stadium.

The Fire have now, incredibly, failed to win in 35 straight road games – a streak that stretches all the way back to Frank Yallop’s first season with the club in 2014.

This was always going to be a rebuilding year in Chicago, but I’m not sure anyone foresaw just dire Veljko Paunovic’s team would be. It should be noted, though, that the Fire didn’t do themselves any favors this year.

While the decisions to part ways with captain Jeff Larentowicz and star-man Harry Shipp were made with cap space in mind, it’s worth noting that Larentowicz is having an outstanding year in LA and Shipp has fit in nicely in Montreal.

Both players would have made the Fire markedly better this year.

8. Plenty for Kreis to Work With in Orlando

Orlando, buoyed by Kaka’s return to the field as an early second half substitute, clawed their way back from 2-0 down for a 2-2 draw against the plummeting Columbus Crew.

Now, the real fun begins for Orlando. Jason Kreis and his coaching staff take training for the first time on Monday with this team’s hopes of making the playoffs still very much intact.

Orlando is just three points below the red line in the East, where teams two through six are separated by just five points, and Kreis has plenty to work with. Kevin Molino, for one, is quietly putting together his best MLS season.

If Kaka can stay healthy, and Kreis can establish a clear first-choice starting lineup, don’t be surprised if the Lions are playing their best soccer in the fall.

9. Howard Earns His Keep

Pablo Mastroeni called Tim Howard’s performance in Colorado’s 1-1 draw with Dallas on Saturday night “world class,” and he wasn’t wrong. Howard was the Rapids’ best player, coming up with a series of huge plays to stifle Oscar Pareja’s team.

The move for Howard – for big money, at the same time as he was being benched by Everton – was lampooned by myself and many others across the MLS landscape. But so far, Howard has been worth every penny.

Colorado just keeps plowing along. They haven’t lost in their last fifteen games, but have won only twice this summer. It still feels like the Rapids’ season could go either way. Getting Jermaine Jones back would certainly help.

10. Dallas’ Sale of Fabian Castillo

It looks like Fabian Castillo is finally making his move to Europe. Reports this week from Ives Galarcep and Alexi Lalas have the winger on his way to Trabzonspor in Turkey for a fee of around $4 million.

Castillo didn’t travel with the Hoops to Colorado on Saturday, and the move could be official as early as this week. It’s a transfer that has been a long time coming, but its timing is not only terrible, it’s something of a slap in the face to Dallas supporters.

This is Dallas’ best chance to win MLS Cup since they lost in the final to Colorado in 2010, and to sell Castillo now would be a devastating blow.

The Sounders and Sporting Kansas City still haven’t recovered from selling star players of their own and not getting proper replacements, while the Timbers – a team that knows a thing or two about winning – flat-out refused month ago to sell Fanendo Adi during the season.

This would be a good move for the player, the club, and the league if it happened after the season. That it’s happening now is good for neither the club nor the league, and Castillo’s willingness to leave Dallas mid-season isn’t terribly flattering on the player either.

The post 10 things we learned from MLS gameweek 20 of the 2016 season appeared first on World Soccer Talk.